Adjustable mounting for antenna



Jan. 18, 1955 A. G. ruRK 2,699,909

ADJUSTABLE VMOUNTING FOR ANTENNA Filed Sept. 19, 1951 United StatesA Patent() ADJUSTABLE MOUNTING FOR ANTENNA Anthony G. Turk, Cleveland, Ohio, assignor to The Gabriel Company, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application September 19, 1951, Serial No. 247,204 v 3 Claims. (Cl. 248-43) This invention relates to an antenna mounting such as a mounting for an automobile antenna, particularly one that is mounted on the cowl, fender or in other locations of the automobile and wherein it is desirable to have provision for adjusting the antenna angularly with respect to its mounting.

The antenna mounting of the present invention constitutes an improvement on the `mounting shown in the Finke et al. Patent 2,470,693, issued May 17, 1949.

As a rule the locations on automobiles where it is desired to place antenna mountings of this type are such that it is difficult to get access to the underside of the panel in which the operating is formed that receives the antenna mounting. In said Finke et al. Patent 2,470,693 the antenna mounting shown therein is such that the inner mounting member and certain other parts associated therewith must be inserted into the opening in the panel from the underside of the panel and this makes the assembly of the mounting on the panel difcult.

An object of the present invention is to provide an antenna mounting similar to the mounting shownin said Finke et al. Patent 2,470,693 but wherein the inner mounting member and the mounting sleeve of the antenna mounting together with the lead-in connector assembly secured to the inner end of the mounting sleeve can be passed through the opening in the panel of the automobile from the outer side of the panel and then the outer mounting member and the clamping nut can be positioned on the mounting sleeve and when the clamping nut is screwed down the outer and inner mounting members will be drawn into proper assembled relationship and in clamping engagement with the outer and inner sides of the panel of the automobile.

A more general object of the invention is to provide an antenna mounting for an automobile which can be mounted and assembled thereon entirely from the outer side of the panel of the automobile and without necessitating assembling any of the parts of the mounting from the underside of the panel.

Another object is to provide an antenna mounting such as referred to in the above named objects but which, if desired, may be mounted on the panel in the usual way from the inside of the latter.

Further and additional objects and advantages not hereinbefore referred to will become apparent hereinafter during the detailed description of an embodiment of the invention which is to follow. I f

Referring to the accompanying drawing illustrating said embodiment of the invention,

Fig. l shows the antenna mounting in longitudinal section and with the antenna rod assembled in the mounting, the antenna rod and the lead-in cable connector assembly being shown partly in longitudinal section and partly in elevation.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view similar to Fig. l but shows the antenna rod removed from the antenna mounting.

Fig. 3 is a sectional View taken substantially on line 3 3 of Fig. l looking in the direction of the arrows, and

Fig. 4 is an elevational view of the mounting sleeve, the inner mounting member and a portion of the lead-in connector assembly secured to the mounting sleeve and shows the saine being passed through the opening in the panel from the outer side of the panel, the panel being shown in section.

Certain features of the antenna mounting shown in the drawing such as the mounting sleeve, clamping nut and the parts carried by the sleeve and into which the antenna "ice i rod extends and is secured per se form no part of the present invention but are disclosed and claimed in the copending application of J ack L. Stewart, Serial Number 237,975, tiled July 2l, 1951, and are covered herein only in combination with other features.

The metal mounting sleeve 10 is of substantial length such that when it is passed through the opening 11 in the panel 12 of the automobile on which the antenna mounting is assembled the sleeve extends well beyond the outer and inner surface of the panel 12.

It will be understood that the panel 12 may be a cowl panel, a fender or some other part of the automobile. The sleeve 10 at its upper or outer and its lower or inner ends is externally threaded as indicated at 13 and 14 respectively. The mounting sleeve 10 intermediate its ends is provided with an internally projecting annular bead 15. An outer insulating bushing 16 is litted with a tight tit into the upper or outer end of the sleeve 10 and said bushing is provided at its outer end with a thickened portion or flange 17 which overlies and engages the outer end of the sleeve 10. The mounting sleeve 10 also has tightly fitted therein a lower insulating bushing 18, the upper end of which engages the internal bead 15 which acts as a positive stop against upward movement of the insulating bushing 18. An internally threaded connecting sleeve 19 is fixed in the lower insulating bushing 18, all as clearly explained in said copending Stewart application Serial No. 237,975.

The outer mounting member is indicated generally at A and the inner mounting member generally at B and thespecific form of the mounting members A and B will be referred to hereinafter, it being understood that the mounting sleeve 10 projects through both mounting members A and B and that the outer member VA is located on the outer side of the panel 12 and the inner member on the inner side thereof.

A lead-in cable connector assembly designated generally at 20 and including an outer braided electrical shield 21, an insulating sleeve 22, a coupling sleeve 21a soldered to the shield 21, and an inner radio frequency conductor 23 soldered to a hollow metal connecting member 23a is secured to the externally threaded lower end 14 of the mounting sleeve 10 by means of a securing nut 24 in a manner well understood in the art. A washer 25 -is interposed between the nut 24 and the inner or lower mounting member B, as clearly indicated in the drawing and when the mounting is assembled on the panel it is drawn into abutting relationship with the member B.

A clamping nut 26 is screwed on the threaded outer end 13 of the mounting sleeve 10 and in assembling the mounting on the panel this clamping nut is screwed down on the sleeve to clamp the outer mounting member A and the inner mounting member B in tight engagement with the opposite sides of the panel and to bring the washer 2S 1nto engagement with the underside of the member B.

The outer or upper mounting member A may be designated as a half ball member and has a main generally hemi-spherical outer surface 27 identical with the outer half ball member shown in said Finke et al. Patent 2,470,693. Also as in the said Finke et al. Patent 2,470,693 the outer mounting member is provided with an opening 2S which is tapered from a slot on the surface 27 of the member toward the center of the member. The member A also has a downwardly extending arcuate boss 29 and an upwardly extending arcuate recess 30 and as shown in said Finke et al. Patent 2,470,693, and for a more detailed description of said outer mounting member A reference may be had to said patent.

The inner mounting member B is similar to the outer mounting member A in that it has a curved outer surface 31 and an arcuate boss 32 which extends into the recess 30 of the outer member when the members are assembled and an arcuate recess 33 that receives the boss 29 of the outer member at such time. The inner mounting member B also has a tapered opening 34 similar to the opening 29 except that the opening 34 adjacent to the recess 33 is extended so that the opening 34 in a direction transverse to the axis of the mounting sleeve 10 is longer than the opening 28 in the member A and is provided at its extended end with an inclined wall 35 rather than the straight wall at the corresponding end of the opening 28 of the outer mounting member. The purpose of this arrangement Will later become apparent.

The inner mounting member B differs from the outer mounting member A and from the corresponding inner member in said Finke et al. Patent 2,470,693, in addition to the elongated slot 34, by having chordal portions cut from the original half-ball member to provide straight or planular sides 36 so as to reduce the dimension of the inner mounting member in one direction, the purpose of which will now be explained.

In the antenna mounting shown in said Finke et al. Patent 2,470,693 it is necessary in assembling the mounting on the automobile panel to rst position the inner mounting member and the parts associated therewith from the underside of the panel and to hold such member and the parts in this position until the outer mounting member and its associated parts are positioned from the outer side of the panel and then the whole assembly drawn into clamped assembled relationship. This procedure involves a different assembling operation.

The construction of the antenna mounting of the present invention is such that all of the parts of the antenna mounting can be positioned and assembled from the outer side of the panel, thus obviating the necessity of performing a difficult assembling operation from the under or blind side of the panel which usually is extremely hard to reach.

In assembling the present antenna mounting the leadin connector assembly is connected by the nut 24 to the threaded inner end 14 of the mounting sleeve 10. Then the washer 25 is positioned on the mounting sleeve 19 and then the antenna rod 38 with the inner mounting member B thereon is screwed into the mounting sleeve. When this has been done these parts can be positioned relative to the panel by passing or threading the lead-in connector assembly 20, the mounting sleeve 10, the washer 2S and the antenna rod 33 with the inner mounting member B arranged thereon through the opening 11 in the panel 12 from the outer side of the panel. In doing this the inner mounting member B is canted or tilted on the antenna rod 38 and the latter is inclined to the vertical, as indicated by full lines in Fig. 4, and can be passed through the opening 11 due to the narrow width of the mounting member B efected by the planular chordal sides 36.

In passing the inner mounting member B through the opening 11 in the panel it is first positioned as indicated in full lines in Fig. 4. Then the right hand end of the member B is passed under the panel to dot and dash line position X to enable the left hand end of the member B to pass through the opening in the panel. When this has occurred the mounting sleeve 1t) and antenna rod 38 are brought to a substantially vertical position and the member B to dot and dash line position Y with the boss 32 thereof extending through the panel opening and the mounting sleeve now passing through the member B which bears upon the washer 25.

After the lead-in connector assembly, Washer 25, antenna rod 38 and the inner mounting member B and the lower end of the mounting sleeve 10 have been thus passed through the opening 11 from the outer side of the panel, the upwardly ilanged sealing gasket 27a and the outer mounting member A are positioned over the mounting sleeve 10 from the outer side of the panel and then a concave washer 37 is positioned on the mounting sleeve and the clamping nut 26 applied to the threaded outer end 13 of the mounting sleeve and screwed down to bring the parts into the clamped assembled and mounted relationship on the panel 12 as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 and wherein the mounting sleeve 10 is adjusted to a vertical position.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the entire mounting assembly is positioned and assembled on the panel 12 from the outer side thereof, thus avoiding the necessity of positioning some of the parts of the assembly from the underside of the panel and consequently greatly facilitating the assembling of the antenna mounting on the panel.

As in said copending Stewart application Serial No. 237,975 the antenna rod 33 can be removed and mounted again without disturbing or requiring the loosening of the parts of the antenna mounting by simply inserting or removing the rod from the sleeve 10 and by screwing or unscrewing the threaded portion of the rod into or out of the threaded connecting sleeve 19. As pointed out in said Stewart application, the securing of the antenna rod in the mounting and the removal thereof from the mounting is entirely independent of the clamping nut 26, but this feature per se forms no part of the present invention and is covered by itself in said copending application being covered herein only in combination with other features.

Although a preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described herein it will be understood that the invention is susceptible of various modifications and adaptations within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In an antenna mounting of the type comprising outer and inner substantially half-ball mounting members adapted to be mounted respectively on the opposite sides of an automobile panel with one of said embers having a boss portion extending through an opening in the panel and engaging in a cooperating recess in the other member and with both members having cooperating openings therethrough which convergently taper from elongated slots in the curved outer surface of the members to aligned substantially cylindrical bores adjacent the automobile panel and communicating with the opening in the latter, an antenna rod mounting sleeve operatively associated with said members and said opening in the panel and angularly adjustable therein and adapted to have an antenna rod detachably secured therein, and means for maintaining said members clamped against the opposite sides of the panel with the mounting sleeve and antenna rod held in the members; the improvement which comprises providing the inner half-ball mounting member with diametrically located cutaway portions reducing the width of the member in one direction and providing substantially parallel planular chordal surfaces thereon whereby said mounting sleeve and the inner mounting member can be passed through the panel opening from the outer side of the panel and which further comprises having said mounting sleeve extended through and beyond both of said mounting members and with its opposite ends externally threaded, and providing means screwed on said opposite sleeve ends and engaging said outer and inner mounting members to clamp said members and said sleeve in position on the automobile panel independently of the securing of the antenna rod in said sleeve.

2. The improvement Vin an antenna mounting as defined in claim 1 and wherein the slot in the inner mounting member is extended so as to be longer than the slot References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,913,222 Von Glakn lune 6, 1933 2,454,897 Trowbridge Nov. 30, 1948 2,468,391 Cejka Apr. 26, 1949 2,470,693 Finke et al. May i7, 1949 2,473,141 Friedberg June 14, 1949 2,509,563 Grashaw May 30, 1950 

